(TUCSON, Ariz.) – With every new year comes the Library's perennially-popular Southwest Books of the Year. The 2025 edition marks the 48th year of publication. It is now available online (books for adults and books for children and young adults), and at libraries and local bookstores.
Of the books, panelist praise included such remarks as, "a fast-paced thriller," "authentic and startling," and "defined by a passion for the region."
2025 Top Picks:
Fiction
- The Arizona Triangle by Sydney Graves
- City in Ruins by Don Winslow
- Malas by Marcela Fuentes
- Mystery Lights by Lena Valencia
- The Horse by Willy Vlautin
Nonfiction
- The University of Arizona: A History in 100 Stories by Gregory McNamee
Art & Photography
- The New Mexicans: 1981–83 by Kevin Bubriski
Memoir
- Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa
- A Race to the Bottom of Crazy: Dispatches from Arizona by Richard Grant
- The Paranormal Ranger: A Navajo Investigator's Search for the Unexplained by Stanley Milford, Jr.
- Cactus Country: A Boyhood Memoir by Zoe Bossiere
- The Molino by Melani Martinez
- A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko
Poetry
- Mojave Ghost by Forrest Gander
Cooking & Food
- La Hija de la Chingada: Chronicles from a Mexican Chef in the U.S.A. by Silvana Salcido Esparza
Nature & Science
Beyond the Top Picks, the publication includes titles in these categories and others, including history, and children's and young adults.
Southwest Books of the Year at the Tucson Festival of Books!
Get to know the authors behind this year's selections in special panels at this year's Festival (March 15 & 16). Panels will feature:
- Melani Martinez
- Sydney Graves (Kate Christensen)
- Silvana Esparza
- Don Winslow
- Marcela Fuentes
- Forrest Gander
- Zoe Bossiere
- Zak Podmore
- Kevin Fedarko
- Willy Vlautin
- Gregory McNamee (Chair of Southwest Books of the Year)
- Anne Hillerman
- Tim Hernandez
Visit the Festival's website to find panel information.
About Southwest Books of the Year:
Southwest Books of the Year considers titles published during the calendar year that are about Southwest subjects, or are set in the Southwest.
The Southwest Books of the Year panel of reviewers—subject specialists and voracious consumers of Southwest literature—are pleased to offer up their personal favorite titles of the year, complete with brief reviews to entice readers.
Southwest Books of the Year: Best Reading 2025 is published by Pima County Public Library in partnership with the Arizona Center for the Book at the Arizona State Library.
Southwest Books of the Year is made possible through funding from the Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
For more information, email the library at literaryarts@pima.gov or visit www.library.pima.gov/southwestbooks.
